When Metz was German
After the annexation from 1871 to 1918, the Germans again occupied Alsace-Lorraine and incorporated it into the Third Reich.
On the right, rue Serpenoise in downtown Metz during the German annexation.
Images from France 3 Grand Est : Metz des années 1940 à 1950
Fort de Queuleu
Pierre Denis, La libération de Metz 1944, Editions Serpenoise, Woippy, 1986
GT-E students regularly visit the fort, and volunteers have already been working on renovations.
Lorraine American Cemetery and Memorial
Many Georgia Tech students fought in France during World War II. Of the 150 who died, 8 are still buried in France in the many American cemeteries.
Student at Georgia Tech, Rupert E. Barnett is buried in Saint-Avold. Native of Nashville, Tennessee, he joigned the 324th Infantry Regiment. He arrived in France in September 1944, and entered combat the following month. After his regiment liberated Strasbourg in November, Barnett was killed in action on December 13th 1944 while driving German forces east, out of the region and was awarded a Purple Heart. He died at 22 years old and would have been part of Georgia Tech’s class of 1945.
Lorraine American Cemetery, American Battle Monuments Commission
Liberation
Metz Municipales Archives
On the right, scenes of surrender after the fighting at the Prefecture building. Paul de BUSSON photo archives/Christian FAUVEL collection.
Pierre Denis, La libération de Metz 1944, Editions Serpenoise, Woippy, 1986
Pictures of the Liberation of Metz, Le Républicain Lorrain
Archives of the Liberation of Metz, le Républicain Lorrain
Captain America, born in Moselle ?
Jack Kirby
After the success of the first issue, the publisher of Captain America once again confronts, on the cover, Captain America and Hitler in a very bad position
Kirby (and Kirby studies) in Moselle, by Charles Hatfield. November 2017
A report of the 2017 international colloquy “Autobiographical Experience and Genre Comics: Self-Narratives in Constrained Contexts. Traces of Jack Kirby’s War in Moselle”
Today in Dornot-Corny, there is a memorial and a historical trail that retraces the battle. Period photos, maps and testimonies of the soldiers who fought are displayed on panels.
WE WILL
IN MEMORY OF THE BRAVE AMERICAN SOLDIERS OF THE 5TH DIVISION WHO PAINFULLY CROSSED THE MOSELLE HERE IN SEPTEMBER 1941 FOR OUR FREEDOM
Dornot-Corny Memorial, September 7, 1945, Photo Gilles Wirtz
World War II in comics
Kismet is a Muslim from Algeria, he’s an agent working for the Allies against the Nazis. He has various superpowers, he can predict the future.
Joan of Arc and Charles de Gaulle are on the cover.
The illustrator Alex Schomburg, shows Dr.Strange landing his parachute in Germany, assaulting Hitler’s security
Remembering
Lorraine American Cemetery
The Lorraine American Cemetery and Memorial is located only 19 miles from Metz, in the city of Saint-Avold. It covers 113.5 acres and contains a total of 10,489 graves, 444 names are inscribed on the Wall of the Missing. Most of the dead here were killed while driving the German forces from the fortress city of Metz towards the Siegfried Line and the Rhine River.
Technical and industrial archives of Moselle
Technical and industrial archives of Moselle
Liberty Road
Battle of Metz: Patton’s Bloody Fortress Battle
Born of the Liberty Road – Kilometer 0
Sainte Mere Eglise – US Paratroopers – WWII
Normandy Invasion – June – August 1944 – WWII
Liberty Road – Borns locations
“Patton headed the 3rd U.S. Army, broke through the German defence at Normandy and cleared a path across northern France, later crossing the Rhine and moving into heartland Germany and Austria.”
General George Patton, Liberation Route Europe
“The Liberty Road marks the route the 3rd US Army of General Patton and the French 2nd DB (armoured division) followed in 1944 during the Operation Cobra.”
Liberty Road – Milestone 00 – Utah Beach
World War II consequences in Georgia
Cold War
After the Second World War, France hosted NATO’s headquarters, therefor, American and Canadian Air Bases were established in the country. Many bases were set up around Metz and its region.
It is at the Chambley-Bussières Air Base in the Meuse, that Michael Collins, Neil Armstrong’s teammate, was settled as a fighter pilot and base commander.
For the anecdote, he got married there in 1957.
In Liverdun, near Nancy, an American-style housing estate was built to house the personnel of the Toul Rosière Air Base. 320 pavilions, of Californian type are built and form the Toulaire housing estate. If the neighborhood still exists, it is difficult to distinguish the American style since the French added hedges.
France and NATO, nato.int
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